Microsoft will retain Call of Duty on PlayStation for ‘several more years’ when the current agreement expires

Microsoft has committed to continue Call of Duty on PlayStation for “many more years” beyond Sony’s current marketing agreement with Activision. Microsoft Gaming CEO and Xbox boss Phil Spencer made the assurance in a written letter to PlayStation president Jim Ryan earlier this year, and it’s the strongest indication yet that Call of Duty would not vanish from PlayStation platforms if Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition is approved by regulators.

It’s unclear how long Call of Duty will be available on PlayStation, although early rumors stated earlier this year that Microsoft was committed to distributing the game on PlayStation “for at least the next two years,” implying that Sony’s marketing arrangement for the brand may end in 2024.

Fans of Call of Duty continue to question whether Microsoft could legally make the game an Xbox exclusive if the Activision Blizzard transaction is completed. Microsoft’s recent statement makes no mention of what happens after those “many more years,” but it’s evident that the business is ready to guarantee Call of Duty on PlayStation for a longer amount of time than it is legally required to.

Part of that effort will be to assuage regulators’ concerns about Microsoft’s $68.7 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard. Sony and Microsoft lawyers have been disputing the significance of Call of Duty in papers presented to Brazil’s Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE), and it’s clear that it’s a sticking point.

Sony says that other creators would struggle to produce a brand that challenges Activision’s Call of Duty and that it stands out “as a gaming genre on its own.” Microsoft claims it isn’t as significant as its competitor claims. The truth lies somewhere in the middle. In these papers to CADE, Microsoft also stated that not distributing titles like Call of Duty at competitor console retailers “would simply not be viable” for the corporation.

Microsoft claims that a strategy of not distributing Activision Blizzard games on competing consoles would be profitable only if the games could attract a large number of players to the Xbox ecosystem, resulting in revenue to compensate for losses from not selling these titles on competing consoles.

Concerns about Xbox exclusivity for Call of Duty have also grown after Microsoft purchased Bethesda last year. Microsoft pledged to honor existing Sony contracts for Deathloop on PlayStation, but instead made Redfall and Starfield Xbox and PC exclusives.

Fears over Call of Duty competition have also prompted the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to conduct a more thorough investigation into Microsoft’s Activision Blizzard merger. The CMA has launched a phase 2 inquiry, in which it will create an independent panel to evaluate whether Microsoft’s ownership over games like Call of Duty and World of Warcraft is harming competitors.

The rivalry between Xbox and PlayStation over Call of Duty has lasted as long as the franchise itself. After Xbox had been the usual home for Call of Duty, Sony notably won a contract for more Call of Duty downloadable content for PlayStation users in 2015. That struggle will undoubtedly continue as attorneys for Microsoft and Sony debate over Call of Duty and authorities attempt to determine just how essential it is.